Two Steps Forward
by szynka2496
Summary: That moment when you thought you could enjoy your Christmas holidays without any problems but then you get stuck with a school project that needed to be done in pairs. Only solution? Spend those three weeks with your project partner. Could it get any worse? Yeah, there's that thing called Extremis. Signed Jackie Walker. Rated T for language. SEQUEL TO 'ONE STEP ASIDE'.
1. Prologue

***crawls back into grave***

**Dislcaimer: I own nothing except my OC Jackie Walker**

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Prologue

In Which We Are Going to Start the Story with a Small Introduction

_We create our own demons. Who said that? What does that even mean? Doesn't matter, I said it 'cause he said it. So now he was famous and that's basically get said by two well known guys. I don't, uh… I'm gonna start again. Let's track this from the beginning._

oOoOoOo

According to the bible, there was a giant flood once, Noah built an arc and saved some people and animals. Mount Vesuvius erupted a long time ago and covered Pompeii in ashes. There was the black plague that killed almost half Europe's population. America dropped atom bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki; Terrorists blew up the Twin Towers. Japan got visited by a huge Earthquake, America by hurricanes and tornadoes. I was introduced to the BBC series _Doctor Who_, which gave me whole new outlook on the world. I couldn't walk into museums anymore without having to think about the Weeping Angels.

Thor was casted out but soon returned. Loki dropped himself into the abyss and got woke up as a changed man, trying to take over the Earth. Aliens attacked Manhattan, the Avengers saved the day. Peter Parker discovered some old files of his father, thus Spider-Man was born. And New York City got attacked by a giant lizard, but this was all bound to happen. Now Curtis Connors was sitting behind the bars and Peter's still patrolling around. Captain Stacy died.

Before the Loki invaded Earth, I guess I was just a normal citizens living in a normal city. I have friends, I have the Internet and pizza delivery, and I was a proud member of certain fandoms. Your average fangirl. But everything changed when I met Steve Rogers. For other people probably just a normal encounter, they probably wouldn't even know _who_ Steve Rogers was. But I do. Because to me, Captain America, Loki, the Tesseract and Spider-Man were just fictions. Fictional characters that weren't supposed to exist in real life. And yet I am living among them. Just like that. One day, I woke up and BAM, I was in the MARVEL universe.

How could this happen? To be honest, I don't know either. Was it a weird feeling to see those heroes on a regular basis now? Yeah, it was. Why am I still alive? Heave won't take me and hell is afraid I'll take over. No, actually there's this whole think the Tesseract energy coursing through my veins. Don't know how this happened either. Do I wish my old life back? No, not really. Do I still love Peter Parker? That's none of your business. Where's Iron Man? Malibu, probably. Haven't seen him for a long time. Who knows what he was planning or doing.

Who am I?

Well, I'm Jackie Walker, and this is the story of the most epic Christmas Holiday I ever had.

oOoOoO

_Yeah, those were the good times. Then I moved on. After a brief soiree in an Afghan cave, I said goodbye to the party scene. Forgot the night in Switzerland. These days I'm a changed man, I'm different now. I'm well… You know who I am._

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**#unnecessary prologue update**_  
_

**I guess the story would make more sense to you if you have read the previous two stories before :P Basically, OC (self insert more or less haha) ends up in movie universe and shit happens. if you don#t feel like reading the previous two stories, feel free to PM me and I'll try to explain things :)**

**Curretnly I'm rewriting the the stories, so i don't know when the actual first chapter will be up, i may also come back and change the prologue some time**

**hm yeah, i think that's it**

**REVIEW PLEASE :D**


	2. Chapter I

**well, barely the first chapter and already introducing two new OCs haha OTL;;; ** **one them is gonna play a LARGE role in the Thor 2 sequel story I plan to write ^^ **

**other than that, I guess this story will be more focused on Jackie I guess? Idk, maybe it's finally time for her to get a bf... **

**Disclaimer: I own nothing except my OC Jackie Walker**

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Chapter I

In Which We Need an Idea For a School Project

"_Sir, please may I request just a few hours to calibrate…"_

"_Not. Forty-eight… Ah! Micro-repeater implanting sequence complete."_

"_As you wish, sir. I've also prepared a safety briefing for you to entirely ignore."_

"_Which I will. Right, let's do this… Dummy. Hi, Dummy. How did you get that cap on your head? You earned it… Hey. Hey! What are you doing round in the corner? You know what you did. Blood on my mat, handle it."_

"_Sir, may I remind you that you've been awake for nearly seventy-two hours."_

oOoOoOo

"Walker, may I remind you that you've been staring at those math exercises for nearly half an hour now and still haven't solved _one problem_."

Hearing this statement coming from Bertie Spencer I dramatically banged my head against the table multiple times and then rested my forehead on the wooden surface, letting out a pathetic whimper.

"I'm too dumb for those math exercises." I whined out, not even looking up once.

"You're making a fool of yourself." Came the heartless reply "They are not that difficult."

Slowly I lifted up my head and stared at Bertie. He returned the stare with crossed arms and a raised brown eyebrow. His whole body basically screamed 'You're not going to leave this place until you have finished those exercises'.

Times like this I wish Peter had time to tutor me in math. I thought it was a bad idea to ask him for tutor since he was already busy at nights with his job as Spider-Man, and he's got his own school stuff to take care off. On top of that there was his relationship with Gwen Stacy. I don't know what was going on between those two at the moment. What I do know was that I'm actually trying to keep distance from both of them as much as possible. It's the best for my poor hearts.

Letting out a deep sigh I pressed my mechanical pencil once and went back to read the instruction, trying my best to ignore those eyes from Bertie on me. He took a sip from his black coffee, savoring the warmth of it during those cold days. It was December after all.

I just hope the 21st December won't actually be the end of the world. With the whole apocalypse crap going around – especially after the alien-invading-Manhattan-incident – a sudden meteor shower from above wouldn't surprise me at all.

Finally, after what seemed like an eternity to Bertie, I started to write something down onto the blank pages. While doing that, I also decided to strike up another conversation. "Do you have any ideas our school project?"

"In fact, I have few." Bertie confirmed "But a certain_ someone _doesn't agree with my ideas."

I rolled my eyes in annoyance and looked up from my papers. "For the last time, I _do not_ want to do the school project about the alien invasion in Manhattan, the giant lizard attack or about any super heroes!"

He hold up both hands in defense, trying to calm me down: "Wow wow, chill, I get it. You don't want to talk about it, no need to make a scene."

Gripping my pencil, I tried my best not to yell at him. I hate it when someone tells me to calm down. Usually when people do that, I just get more upset.

Biting my lower lip I returned to the math problems. Maybe I was overreacting, but it's just that since summer vacation 2012 nothing has been the same for me. And Bertie of course can't know that. He simply won't understand the inner struggle I have. Well, it's not like I have any intention of telling him about it anyway.

"What do you suggest?" Was Bertie's next question.

I pressed my lips into a thin line, making some thinking-out-loud noises. But at the end I just shrugged my shoulders. "I just know I want to do something with research, investigation and asking questions to people, you know, like the case with Anthony Porter…"

"Walker," Bertie interrupted "it's a _school project_. Not BBC _Sherlock_ Season 3."

I grimaced as he mentioned BBC _Sherlock_ Season 3. Odin knows how old I'll be when it actually comes out on TV. Until then I'm sure thousand other threats will happen. Letting out a sigh I slumped back into the green cushion chair and stared out of the window. It was snowing, the streets were covered in snow, some of them were dirty due the car fumes. Although it was still the beginning of December, New York City was already in Christmas mood.

I for my part was a bit curious about this year Christmas. Normally I spent those days with my father and some of employees, though I can't say I really like it much. Maybe it was because I don't enjoy being around strangers, or maybe it was simply because I don't have a close relationship with my father, and thus I have no idea how to talk to him. Sometimes I don't even feel like I was his daughter.

The ringtone coming from Bertie's cell phone interrupted my train of thoughts. Hastily he pulled it out of his pocket along with some other stuff (keys, tickets, coins etc.) and picked up the call. A majority of the conversation consisted of 'Mhm, mhm', 'alright okay' and 'got it'. I'll just guess that it was his mom on the other side of the phone call. You don't have to be a genius to know that.

Well, the phone calls I receive from Steve Rogers were kinda similar like this one. Except Steve wasn't my mom. But he's my neighbor, acts partly as my legal guardian and was sometimes such a mother hen. It really made me wonder whether he was the mother or the father in this whole superfamily ship.

Bertie hung up the phone and sighed. "I gotta go now."

I grinned and put my pencil down. "Curfew?"

In response he threw a glare at me and started to pack his things into his bag, putting on his jacket and scarf. It was after all cold outside.

"You try solve those math problems." He pointed at said problems.

I made a face at it and finally shooed him out of the café. Watching him from the windows, I made sure he turned around the corner and was completely out of my sight. Then I proceeded to pack my own things away and carried the empty mugs and plates away.

There at the counter stood Marcel, owner of Café Mischief, reading glasses sitting on his nose, reading _The Satanic Bible_.

As I set down the dished on the counter, he inquired without looking away from the page in a cheeky tone: "That your boyfriend?"

"Worse." I replied and stared at the new flat screen TV hanging above the counter "My school project partner and recently math tutor."

"Hn, I liked that Parker boy more."

Ignoring the fact how he brought Peter up for no real reason I picked up the TV remote and flipped through the channels. When the_ Adventure Time _intro song blasted through the tiny speakers hanging next to the TV I stopped and put the remote away. Taking a few steps back I leaned against a table behind me to get a better view on the screen. It does hurt when I have to crane up my neck the whole time.

I didn't need to look at Marcel's face to know it was saying 'Aren't you too old for this shit', so I felt like I should defend myself: "I haven't been that scared of cartoons since _Courage the Cowardly Dog_."

Plus it has got its own canon genderblend version. What more are you asking for?

Just as Jake was about to kiss the Fire Princess, the TV screen started to dizzle around. At first I thought it just had bad connection because of the weather outside, thought that thought was quickly discarded when it changed to a weird looking wanna-be guru sitting on a chair.

Since I haven't got a gadget arm that could be extended or I have learned how to use the force, I did nothing to change the channel back. Too lazy to reach out for the TV remote.

"Some people call me a terrorist, I consider myself a teacher." The person introduced himself "America, ready for another lesson. In 1864 in Sand Creek Colorado the U.S military waited till the friendly Cheyenne braves all gone hunting, waited to attack and slaughter their families left behind, and claim their land."

I furrowed my eyebrows, trying to recalls if I have ever heard about his incident before from somewhere, but couldn't remember anything. Well, I don't really watch the news often or pay attention in history class.

Or maybe this was something that only happened in the MARVEL universe.

"Thirty-nine hours ago the Ali al Salem Air Base in Kuwait was attacked. I did that. A quaint military church filled with wives and children, of course. The soldiers were out on maneuver, the braves were away. President Ellis you continue to resist my attempts to educate you, sir. And now, you've missed me again. You know who I am, you don't know where I am, and you'll never see me coming."

The footage ended and the screen returned back to Adventure Time. Of course I have completely missed the kiss scene and the third degree burn on Jake's lips.

"Well, I certainly hope President Ellis will do something about it."

Absent minded I nodded my head in agreement to what he said, but then I widened my eyes in shock." Wait what, President _Ellis_?"

Elegantly Marcel raised an eyebrow at my outburst and confusion.

"Who the fuck is President Ellis?" I demanded to know.

"The current POTUS." He replied rather calmly.

President Ellis. POTUS. Ellis. POTUS.

My mind tried to make some sense about those two words.

Alright, okay, it's the MARVEL universe, so naturally they had their own president, and in this case it was this Ellis guy. And since I wasn't really in my own world anymore, that would meant Obama was never President? I live almost half year in this universe and still haven't noticed that America had a different President?

This was just another bitten truth I had to live with not, but simply couldn't befriend with. Nope nope nope, I refuse to accept that.

Suddenly feeling very tired I decided that it was time for me to go home now.

Putting my scarf and jacket on, sliding my bag over my shoulder I bid the shop owner goodbye and then walked home.

oOoOoOo

Arriving home the first thing I did was opening the postbox and taking out the letters. It was a huge stack. I have made out the habit to check the postbox only once a month since I was a lazy person.

Most of the things were just flyers, advertisements and some early Merry-Christmas postcards from far away relatives I have never heard off and probably only met them once when I was still wearing diapers. Can't really say that I remember much about them.

One letter caught my interest though. It was cooper red with a golden frame. There wasn't anything written on it, but I knew instantly from who it was.

Not sure if I was a good thing to receive a Christmas card from Tony or a bad thing. The last time I got a card it ended up with an explosion because apparently I didn't follow the instruction properly after opening it. And if you don't open the letter for a few days, it will just explode anyway.

Basically it's like a howler, except you don't get yelled at it.

Throwing my bad away and turning on the TV, I ripped open the letter and then quickly threw it away from me, going into hiding behind the couch.

Nothing happened.

Slowly I peeked over and stared at the piece of paper for a few seconds.

If Bertie was here, he'd think I had some serious mental problem.

I go got up from behind the couch and reached over to read the holy message from Iron Man. But the first line already told me that there was no way that narcissist wrote the letter. It started out way too nice. The letter was actually from Pepper.

Well, I haven't seen her for a pretty long time. I think the last time was maybe at Stark's tower where she threatened to ground me until menopause (at that point I couldn't resist to ask whose she meant, to which Pepper replied with Tony's).

"… Central to my Administration's response to this terrorist event, is a newly minted resource…"

I turned my head around to face the TV. On screen was President Ellis standing at a stage, holding a speech about the terrorist threat from earlier. I grimaced when I listened to him talking. I don't think I'll ever get used to the idea that Obama was never President.

"I know him as Colonel James Rhodes, the American people will soon know him as the Iron Patriot."

James Rhodes? Iron Patriot?

Furrowing my brows I stared at the armored man that appeared on the screen, waving to the audience. Obviously it was a replica of the Iron Man suit, except it had a different color. I sense that bad thing is going to happen soon. And I don't like it a bit.

Turning off the TV I went back to read the neatly handwritten letter of Pepper. Really, I think this was something that should be treasured. How often does one get a handwritten letter these days? She could have used a computer, but no, Pepper is an awesome woman and decided to take out a pen and write it instead.

While I was happy about the letter itself, the content had me worried though. To put it short, Pepper Was worried about Tony because apparently he hasn't been seen for a quite long time and wonders whether he was in New York now. And apparently Tony couldn't sleep at night, being plagued by nightmares or something like that.

Hm, I haven't seen any headlines about a missing billionaire the last few days, so I guess he should be still in reach? I mean, Tony wouldn't be dumb enough to leave Pepper alone, right? But truth to be told, he has been acting strangely the last few months.

But why was she telling me all of this? Has she even tried calling him on his phone?

Deciding that I should give it a shot, I took out my cell phone and dialed Tony's personal private number (which only a few selected people have. And no, I wasn't really one of those, but Steve was kind enough to give it to me).

"Tony Stark here, who's there?"

"It's me." I deadpanned.

"Oh you."

"Yeah me. Uh, how have you been?" I started carefully, not sure if he knew Pepper sent me a letter concerning him.

"… What do you want? A new laptop? Trip to Mount Everest? Skydiving?"

I gaped at that. "You really think I called you just because I wanted a favor?"

"Well, we could always go hiking on the Mount Everest some day."

"I'll go back to this later." I said and then paused, thinking of something to talk about "Uh, Iron Patriot."

"He's sitting next to me."

"Tell him I said hi."

Suddenly Tony's voice sounded so afar (a 'she said hi' could be made out though) and then Colonel James Rhodes voice sounded through. He wasn't talking directly to the phone, more like to Tony. Something about classified, the Mandarin and nine bombings. But then he stopped talking, probably realizing that a normal civilian just heard something she was not supposed to hear over the phone. I waited for one of them to end the call, but strangely it never happened. Instead they continued talking, but not over the phone with me.

Should I just stop the call or wait and see what happens? It's not like I can't hear anything anyway.

Just when I was about to press the red button on the cell phone, I heard a distant voice of Tony stating in a somewhat surprised ton: "I broke the crayon."

Raising an eyebrow I continued listening to what was happening on the other side of the phone, but then the line got interrupted by some wild rustling noises. I made a face at it and tried to find out what was going on. Colonel James Rhodes shouted something alone with 'Wait a minute! Tony!", and then the line went dead.

… Uhm okay, so something happened but I don't know what.

Throwing my cell phone onto the couch I turned on the laptop and looked out of the window. Snow began to fall down again, covering the streets in its new white clothes. I counted the falling snowflakes until I lose count.

oOoOoOo

"_Happy?"_

"_Yes."_

"_Okay, I am thrilled that you're now the Head of Security, okay? It is the perfect position for you."_

"_Thank you."_

"_However…"_

"_I do appreciate it."_

"_Since you've taken the post…"_

"_You don't have to thank me."_

"_We've had a rise in staff complaints of three hundred percent."_

"_Thank you."_

"_That's not a compliment."_

"_That's not a compli…? It is a compliment! Clearly somebody's trying to hide something."_

"_Happy, we'll talk about this later. But right now I have to go deal with this very annoying thing."_

"_How so?"_

"_I used to work with him, and he used to ask me out all the time. So it's a little awkward."_

"_I don't like the sound of that."_

oOoOoOo

Christmas songs were blasting through the mini stereo as I poured some sugar into my tea. Five teaspoons to be exact. Mixing everything I then took a small sip, making sure not to burn my lips, as I typed something into Google.

The Mandarin terrorist attacks.

Curiosity got the better hold of me.

What did Colonel James Rhodes said before? Nine bombings. Well, I can only find three official one.

It was a bit wishful thinking and mindless dreaming, but I thought this could be a good subject for the school project. I just didn't know how to get to the places where the bombings where though.

I have texted Bertie three hours ago about this idea, and still haven't received a reply from him. I bet he's sitting in front of his phone, laughing his ass off about my suggestion. Sometimes I wonder why I even bother to stick around him.

Maybe it was because he was new to my school, and I saw it as a chance to befriend someone completely new and different. The thing about my other school mates were that didn't know about the MARVEL universe anymore. It just made me talking to them felt weird and strange, and thus I have been slowly distancing myself from them.

The thing about Bertie was that even though he was a newbie he was already quite popular not just among the students, but also among the teachers. But strangely no one knew a lot about him. Perhaps people knew his birthday or his favorite color, but there was no real information about his background. Mostly when people asked him about his family, he successfully dodged those questions and changed the subjects.

Other people may have not noticed that, but when you spent a lot of time with SHIELD agents (like Romanoff and/or Barton) you tend to pick up those things.

I continued to click through the different articles on the Internet. As far as I know the Mandarin was apparently the public face of a terrorist group called The Ring. Nice name. Certainly has got a nice ring in it.

Okay that was a bad pun.

From what I recall of the Iron Man movies the ring was the terrorist group that kidnapped Tony few years ago and forced him to make weapons. So basically it was their fault the Iron Man suit was made. There were far more information on them, but right now I didn't feel like going through all this stuff.

Letting out a tired yawn, I sat up and stretched my stiff body and then checked the time. Nine o'clock and one missed call.

From Bertie none less.

Well, this better be good.

I dialed his number and waited for him to pick up his phone.

"It's finally time for you to call back." Was the first thing he said.

"Yeah, your thoughts about my oh-so-awesome suggestion?" I asked instead, ignoring his comment.

Bertie paused dramatically, making me think it was the stupidest idea ever to text him about, since this required us to travel around.

Finally, he let out a deep sigh and announced: "You can start packing now. Tomorrow afternoon we're going on a road trip."

oOoOoOo

"_After years dodging the president's ban on 'immoral biotech research', my think tank now has a little something in the pipeline. It's an idea we like to call Extremis. I'm gonna turn your lights down… Regard the human brain… Uh, wait. Hold on, hold on. That's… That's the universe, my bad. But if I do that… That's the brain. Strangely mimetic though, wouldn't you say?"_

"_Wow, that's amazing!"_

"_Thanks, it's mine."_

"_What?"_

"_This… you're inside my head. It's a… It's a live feed. Come on up, I'll prove it to you. Come on… Now, pinch my arm. I can take it. Pinch me."_

"_What is that?"_

"_It's the primary somatosensory cortex. It's the brain's pain center. But this is what I wanted to show you. Now, Extremis harnesses our bioelectrical potential and it goes… Here. This is essentially an empty slot, and what this tells us is that our mind, our entire DNA in fact, is destined to be upgraded."_

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**I sold my soul to Nintendo since Animal Crossing: New Leaf came out.**

**My Friend code^^: 5327-0931-2160**

**feel free to add me and share yours :)**


	3. Chapter II

**ahahaha, is it just me or did a whole month passed away since my last update OTL;;;;**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing except my OC Jackie Walker and Bertie Spencer**

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Chapter II

In Which We Embark For a Road Trip

"_I'm at a payphone, trying to call home, all of my change I spent on you."_

"_Bertie."_

"_Where have the time gone, baby it's all wrong, where are the plans we made for two?"_

"_Bertie."_

"_Yeah I know it's hard to remember, the people we used to be. It's even harder to picture, that you're no- don't touch the radio! I've got it right there where I want it!"_

"_Then keep your eyes on the damn road and- THE LIGHT WAS FUCKING RED!"_

oOo

"_The number you have dialed is temporally not available, please try again later or leave a message after the signal- BEEP."_

"_Hi Peter, it's me, Jackie Listen, I'm kinda on a sudden road trip right now with Bertie. Y'know, Roberto Spencer AKA Bertie? Yeah, and I – DAMMIT BERTIE LOOK OUT, THERE WAS A DOG – could you pass this message to the others, I don't want to face their wrat-"_

"_Thanks for leaving a message."_

"… _Fucking voice mail."_

oOoOoOo

I always thought that – beside Peter – Tony was the only human on Earth who ignored all the rules and laws about driving.

Imagine my surprised when I was proved wrong.

Bertie was an even worse driver. He wasn't just driving over the speed limit; he didn't even fasten his seat belt! OF course the car he was driving was one of those that automatically make beeping noises when someone doesn't fasten its seat belt. How does one solve this problem?

The seat belt was kinda fastened, just not around his body while driving. He was basically sitting on it.

I don't even want to know where he got that idea.

Did I mention that it was snowing and thus it makes driving a lot harder? Well, probably not harder, but I imagine the people ought to be careful.

I don't have a driver license yet. I did want to get one, but when I told certain people about it (coughNatashaandClintcough) both of them tried to teach me how to drive. Well, naturally it didn't end well. I hope Fury hasn't found out about the big dent on the car yet.

What was I even thinking that time, confronting the Avengers about my daily life?

_Payphone_ was running for the zillionth time. I used to like that song. Now I just hate it.

"How long have you had a driver license?" I finally dared to ask, thinking this would explain Bertie's oh-so good driving skills.

He tapped to the rhythm of the song, while thinking about my question, which only made me more worried.

"A couple of years." He finally answered.

I raised an eyebrow. "How old are you?!"

"18."

Nice. Eighteen years old. I wonder during those two years, how often has he been pulled over by the police.

It suddenly occurred me just how dangerous the situation was. Me, a pathetic sixteen-years old, sitting a car with a legal adult, on a out-of-nowhere-road-trip.

Just like that.

Well, fuck.

What the hell was I thinking yesterday?! Do we even know where we have to go? Going on a road trip for a school project during the Christmas holidays, yeah sounds easy peasy, but fuck fuck _fuck_, we should have planned it more carefully.

Also, there was another thing that bothered me. Me and Bertie. Alone. You see where I was going with that? Yeah.

Sometimes I wonder why there was no one to stop me from doing dumb things.

Oh right, that's because I tend not to tell anyone about it until the last minute. Good thing I just called Peter a while ago.

Am I not a genius? Well, what's done is done. I just hope bad things won't happen to me.

"So, Walker." Bertie spoke up after having sung the refrain rather badly "What have you found out about the Mandarin yet?"

I shrugged my shoulders, and then replied: "Terrorist, leader of the Ring." Which I find off since I thought Tony destroyed those terrorists completely "And uh, there was one attack in Rose Hill, Tennessee. Similar to his previous attacks, though it is not sure whether it was really the Mandarin or not."

"And that's where we're heading right now." Bertie finished my sentence and then went back to driving.

Well, I certainly hope we are heading that way.

A stretching silence followed, where the song finally changed to something else.

_We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together._

… Okay…

I decided not to bother Bertie about his choice of songs anymore and checked my phone for new messaged.

There was one from Peter, with a video attached to it.

Curious, I turned off the radio, turned up the volume of my phone and played the video.

There was an old man with a long beard sitting on a chair. No, it's not Santa Clause, it was the Mandarin.

"What's this?" Bertie inquired.

Instead of replying I just hushed him and pressed the play button.

"True story about fortune cookies. They look Chinese, the sound Chinese, but they're actually an American invention." The Mandarin revealed.

My whole life has been a lie.

"Which is why they're hollow, full of lies, and leave a bad taste in the mouth. My disciples just destroyed another cheap American knock-off, The Chinese Theater."

There was a bombing at the Chinese Theatre?

"Mr. President, I know this must be getting frustrated, but this season of terror is drawing to a close. And don't worry, the big one is coming; your graduation."

After having watched the video, I started to wonder whether it was a good idea to research about a terrorist for a school project.

It was as stupid idea, and I'm sure Bertie knew that too. So why did he agree to it?

At this moment I couldn't help but think how everything was just like in a bad made movie. Except this was reality.

But then again, movies could be realty, right?

oOoOoOo

"_We're awaiting the arrival of Tony Stark. We're hoping he'll give us the reaction… His reaction to the latest attack… Mr. Stark! Mr. Stark! Our sources are telling us this is another Mandarin attack. Anything else you can tell? Hey Mr. Stark! When is somebody gonna kill this guy? Just sayin'."_

"_Is that what you want? Here's a little Holiday greeting I've been waiting to send to the Mandarin. I just didn't know how to phrase it until now. My name is Tony Stark and I'm not afraid of you. I know you're a coward, so I've decided that you just died, pal. I'm gonna come get the body. There's not politics here, it's just good old-fashioned revenge. There's no Pentagon; it's just you and me. And on the off-chance you're a man, here's my home address: 10090, Malibu Port, 90265. I'll leave the door unlocked. That's what you wanted, right?"_

oOoOoOo

I actually willingly did some math.

Okay not really, Google Maps told me how long it would take a normal person to get from New York to Tennessee.

Approximately 17 hours. Maybe even a bit longer since it was just Bertie driving he was human after all. He needs his break. So technically it should take us two days to get there. But alas, as I've mentioned before, Bertie was about to break a record on breaking the speed limit et cetera. It wouldn't surprise me if we arrive in Tennessee tonight.

Still, I insisted on stopping at the next gas station and take a break. Food and stuff. Plus restroom break.

Right now I was standing at the counted, waiting for our hot dogs. A far screen TV (you know, those old ones) was running. A crowd gathered in front of a hospital, cameras and microphones all pointed at one person that stepped out of the hospital.

I wasn't interested in watching the breaking news until I heard the name Stark.

I have a bad feeling about this.

Almost scared, I turned my head around and looked at the screen. A really mad looking Tony Stark send out a matching mad message at – hold on – the Mandarin. Including his address and all that jazz.

Why was he involved with the Mandarin?

Funny how we decided to research that guy for school project and poof – Iron Man was involved in it too.

This just smells like trouble.

Perhaps we really should cancel this trip and return to New York before it's too late.

I made a 180 degree turn on my own heels, ready to walk out of the gas station and confront Bertie about it, when suddenly he was already standing behind, staring at the TV screen with a rather unimpressed look.

Uhm okay, was he a ninja?

"Was that just Tony Stark giving out his address?" he asked, playing with the car keys.

"Yeah." I replied and then let my eyes wander around the room, not knowing how I should phrase my next sentence.

Well, it was an exciting idea, to go out like this and I do feel a bit bad about saying that we should return back to our old boring life.

I heard the shop keep yelling 'Hot Dog's ready'. Bertie reached with both arms over my shoulder and grabbed them, handing one to me. I took it with an uneasy smile and bit down, savoring the taste.

"It shouldn't take us too long to get to Rose Hill now. We've come really far today, so I think we should be there around eleven in the night maybe?"

While Bertie was filling me in with information I didn't ask for, my mind was constructing a speech about how we should return home now. It usually looked like this: I let every sentence go through my mind ten times, change the structure here and there, think about possible reaction from the person I was about to confront and then end up not saying anything at all.

But this here was serious business. Believe, after the alien invasion and the giant lizard attack I really don't want to experience another near-death-experience. So I took a deep breath, and tried my best to say in a stern voice: "Listen, Bertie."

Said person stopped talking and looked at me with big green eyes, waiting for me to continue talking.

"I think we should return."

There it was. Delivered with no fuss and long talking. Straight forward and honest.

I stood there and waited for a reaction from him. He stopped chewing on his Hot Dog, took few seconds to process what I just said, and then asked: "Why?"

"Did you see the news? Iron Man is now involved in it. And I guarantee you, if that jackass is in it, then we'll definitely in deep shit." I hissed out.

"... No."

"No?!" I repeated. Did he just hear what I said?

"No." He said again. Before I could open my mouth again to deliver an argument, he explained. "We are already half a way through with getting there. You should never start something and not finish it."

"But you don't understand!"

"Remember that it was you in the first place who suggested the idea."

"And who was stupid enough to go along with it?"

"Me, but I have my reasons."

"Oh, really?"

"My family lives there, waiting for my arrival to spend Christmas with them."

Oh. Okay. Sounds reasonable. But why was his whole family in Tennesse and not in New York? That doesn't add up together, somehow. As I thought about it longer, I began to worry more for my own safety. Can I really trust Bertie?

Bertie seemed to notice that. "Look, Walker. I know you're scared, it's written all over your face-"

"Damn right I am!"

"- But I promise, nothing will bad will happen. We're just going to check the place where the attack was, have dinner with my family and continue with your math tutor lesson. That's it. Okay?"

I don't like how he planned math into it. And having dinner with his family together, that sounded like we just got married. Ew.

Now he was looking me with his huge green eyes, almost pleadingly. I sighed and gave in. Bertie then smiled happily and flicked my forehead for whatever reason.

"It's settled then."

With that we walked back to the car and continued with our journey.

oOoOoOo

"_I've compiled a Mandarin database for you, sir. Drawn from SHIELD, FBI and CIA intercepts. Initiating virtual crime scene reconstruction."_

"_Okay, what do we got here? His name is an ancient Chinese war mantle, meaning 'Adviser to the king'. South American insurgency tactics, talks like a Baptist preacher. There's a lot of pageantry going on here… Lots of theater…"_

"_The heat from the blast was in excess of 3000 degrees Celsius. Any subject within 12.5 yards were vaporized instantly._

"_No bomb parts found in a three mile radius of the Chinese Theater."_

"_No, sir."_

oOo

"_Report, Agent Hills."_

"_According to our undercover agent, Walker has left New York City this morning. They are on their way to Rose Hill, Tennessee."_

"_What are they doing there?"_

"_It is apparently for a school project of them. Unfortunately we don't have any further information."_

"_Contact the agent and make sure he sends a report as soon as possible."_

"_Roger that, Director Fury."_

"_Oh, and Agent Hills."_

"_Yes sir?"_

"_Keep an eye on Stark too. God knows what that guy is up to now."_

"_Understood sir!"_

oOo

"_Any military victims?"_

"_Not according to public records, sir."_

"_Bring up the thermogenic signatures again, factor in three thousand degrees."_

"_The oracle cloud has completed analysis. Accessing satellites and plotting the last twelve months of thermogenic occurrence now."_

"_Take away everywhere that there's been a Mandarin attack… That, you sure that's not one of his?"_

"_It predates any known Mandarin attack. The incident was the use of a bomb to assist a suicide."_

"_Bring it around."_

"_The head signature is remarkably similar. Three thousand degree Celsius."_

"_That's two military guys. Ever been to Tennessee, JARVIS?"_

"_Creating a flight plan for Tennessee."_

oOoOoOo

A sudden wave of dizziness overcame me. It was the same on when you've been sitting for a long time and suddenly stand up too fast and all the blood rushed into your head. Except this time I was still sitting, watching _Doctor Who _on Bertie's iPad.

I closed my eyes and shook my head a few times, making the feeling go away. It worked too.

Well, that was weird.

I don't randomly get dizzy feeling. Does that mean I just caught some rare disease that you can only get during winter road trips? That wouldn't be good at all.

A tired yawn escaped from my mouth, and I tried my best to cover it with my hand.

"Don't fall asleep now." Bertie commented "We'll be there soon."

"That's what you've been saying for the past two hours."

He simply shrugged his shoulders and didn't say anything anymore. I felt slightly bad that he had to drive the whole time why I could chill there and watch movies. But then again, he was against returning so it was his fault, in some way. I leaned back onto the seat, and glances into his direction. His face profile shone under the street light, eyebrows knitted in concentration while staring at the street in front of him.

Bertie was quite good looking, somehow. Could compete with peter. I really like his green eyes. Way prettier than my blue one.

"Is something the matter?" He suddenly spoke up with his smirk, that just said 'I know you've been staring at me'.

Blood shot up in my face and I turned my eyes back to the road, replying with the first thing that came into my mind.

"Why do you bother around me?"

Silence.

That gotta be the dumbest thing I could've asked out loud. Sure, it was something that I have been asking myself a lot lately. Why do all the people even bother hanging out with me or look out for me? I mean, I can understand SHIELD, because you know, there is that girl who knows a lot of stuff she shouldn't know, so they need to keep an eye on me. But for example, Steve? I think it's nice that he looks out for me, but sometimes I do wonder why he even does that. The same goes for Tony and Bruce. I just found it weird. There was nothing interesting about me, really. In fact, I think if I meet myself, I'd hate me.

Few minutes has passed and Bertie still hasn't answered my question, so I though he simply pretended not to have heard it.

Just when I was about to really fall asleep, I heard him mumbling mostly to himself: "It was an order."

But at that time I wasn't awake enough to comprehend whether I just imagined that or not.

* * *

**A huge thank you to all those readers who still bother to stick around my stories even though I haven't been updating as regularly as i used to! **

**also, I'm open for sketch commission ;P more information can be found on my profile :)**


	4. Chapter III

**SLIGHT SPOILERS IN THE FIRST CURSIVE DIALOGUE **

**it's something from the Thor 2 prequel comic, I thought since I'll definitely write a thor 2 story i should already start linking few things together :)**

**also I'm really happy that i got the reaction from my reviewer i wanted about Bertie :D to answer all of your questions: I guess we shall wait and see ;)**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing except my OC Jackie Walker and Bertie Spencer**

* * *

Chapter III

In Which I Had an Unpleasant Waking Up

As I sat in the kitchen covered in a warm blanket, hand squeezing a warm cup of coca, a woman (who looks surprisingly young for her age) made coffee for the young man sitting opposite of me.

"You should have called before arriving," the woman, who just happened to be mama Spencer, scolded. "and told me you'd bring a pretty young lady with you."

I like her already.

Bertie took a sip from his coffee and mumbled under his breath: "She doesn't behave like a lady…"

WHACK! His mom slapped him lightly on the back of his head, making Bertie looked annoyed. I bit the inside of my cheek and tried my best not to laugh out loud.

It's 12.29 in the morning and I was dead tired. Though I have to say, it was totally worth staying up now and watch how my math tutor got lectured by his mom. Although the sight also made me a bit sad since I never knew my real mom and therefore didn't know how such a mother-son relationship felt like.

"Is this how you talk to a young lady? I swear to God as my witness, I have raised that boy better!"

I wouldn't doubt that, maybe he just went through a rebel phase and simply decided to stick to it.

Now his mother turned to me and poured more cocoa into my cup. "Oh dear, I am so sorry that Roberto dragged you all the from New York to Tennessee in _one day_. I know his driving skill all too well." At that she shot another glare to said person.

"I'm fine. I think the worst part was his choice of music." I replied, earning some pity points from her.

"Taylor Swift marathon?"

"Mhm".

"Well," she told me "at least I hope he didn't sing along to it. I'm telling you, Roberto is a _horrible_ singer. Once he-"

I saw from the corner of my eye how Bertie put his head onto the table surface, mumbling silently under his breath something not understandable. Call me a sadist, but at the moment I really enjoyed seeing him suffering.

"I haven't got your name yet." Mrs. Spencer reminded me.

Right, how rude of me not to introduce myself first! "I'm Jackie Walker."

It seemed to me like she was studying my name for a moment, before turning to look at Bertie and then sharing a knowing look. That had me a bit worried and suspicious. She smiled again and said: "I'm Roberto's mom, but you can call me Gillian. It makes me feel younger."

"Mooom!" Bertie whined out, like he was embarrassed about how his mom was behaving.

"You, young man," I no time she switched her personality to angry mom "we are going to have a stern talk tomorrow morning."

With that she left the kitchen (something about preparing the guest room since her son was oh-so-nice to give her a forewarning) leaving us kiddies alone.

The clock was ticking, making me feel more nervous. I didn't like the ticking sound. It basically screamed 'hurry up and do something useful with your life, you're running out of time'. I didn't like to think that I was wasting my life and time. I'm young, and I still have my whole life ahead of me. For now, I'll just enjoy the moment here and now.

If I get some proper sleep now.

Should I be surprised that Bertie didn't even bother to call his mom before? I mean, obviously we had the time to do that.

And dammit, I need some sleep now!

Thank God I didn't have to sit on the chair snuggled in the blanket any longer, because at this moment his mom waltzed back into the kitchen, happily explaining that the guest room was prepared now and that we children should really go to sleep now. Apparently the time between 11 pm and 3 am is where people should try to get as much sleep as possible. The growing stage or something like that.

I thanked her and followed her to the guest room. She explained few things (where the bathroom was etc.) and then wished me goodnight. Milliseconds after she closed the door I jumped under the cover, snuggled up to the pillow and fell asleep.

I think once forgetting to brush the teeth is really not the end of the world.

oOoOoOo

"_I really don't see what all the fuss is about. I intended to rule Earth with the same firm hand with which you rule all the nine realms. To show humanity the same _mercy_ you've granted your opponents. And if given the chance, I might have even stolen a mortal infant and raised it as my own."_

"_Frigga clings to you like the mother of a drowned child, but she is too late to save you. The boy I knew is dead. What remains is a creature I do not recognize. Frigga is why you still live, but this was the last time you will ever see her. Spend the rest of your wicked days in the dungeon… Loki Laufeyson."_

oOoOoOo

You know what's really mean?

When you study really hard for a test and still get a really bad grade.

You know what's even meaner?

When certain people takes your sonic screwdriver away, saying it's a bad influence on you.

But you know what's the meanest?

When someone decides to put snow under your bed sheet while you're still in deep sleep.

My scream alarmed the whole Spencer household. Three heads popped from the doorway. Bertie, his mom and his dad, all looking very concerned. I clutched the bed sheet tightly to myself as a small figure stood beside my bed, fully clothed in scarf and gloves.

"You did not…" Bertie started and stared at the little girl with disbelief and humor.

His dad only shook his head while his mom shot her an angry glare, that clearly said 'you're so in trouble, young lady'. I didn't know Bertie had a little sister.

To put it short, it was an awful morning to wake up.

Especially after I just had a dream about two people I'd rather not think about. I'd like to believe that this was just a random dream, something that my mind made up to mess with me, but somewhere deep inside me I knew it wasn't. Because normally I don't remember much about a dream, maybe few words and some blurry faces and scenarios. With this one, I remember everything clearly.

FYI Odin, parenting A++.

I really hope this wasn't something that really happened on Asgard after Loki was taken back. I should see it this way: They're planets away, I may not see him ever again, so it really shouldn't bother me that much.

Convincing myself with that thought, I took a quick shower and changed into some fresh clothes and then went into the kitchen. Actually I'd like to avoid meeting anyone right now, but since Bertie's mom told me that breakfast was ready and I should go there after getting ready, I just couldn't ditch them.

Besides, I was really hungry.

So I did what my stomach's telling me to do. In the kitchen I was greeted by the sight of Mrs. Spencer cooking, Mr. Spencer reading a newspaper, Bertie and his sister sitting at the table.

The whole family was present.

Suddenly I felt totally out of place. I simply didn't fit into the picture. I gulped and stood there awkwardly at the doorway.

"Uhm, do you need help with anything?" I asked.

"Oh now, just sit down and eat, pancakes are ready" Mrs. Spencer replied and then flipped the pancake onto the plate.

I nodded and pulled out the chair next to Bertie, sitting down. Opposite of me sat his dad and that little beast who put snow under my bed sheet. She looked between 6-8 years old annoying and just a huge pain in the ass.

I hate little girls. I can already tell I'm not going to get along with her. Hopefully I'll be able to return to New York soon.

His dad looked young. Really young. Maybe Bertie's parents got married right after High School? Who knows.

"I'm Jack Spencer." He introduced himself, and reached out a hand for a handshake.

"Jackie Walker." I responded and smiled a little bit, then looked at the little girl.

She announced in a high pitched shrieking voice: "I'm Bethany!" A typical little girl voice that just demanded to get attention.

I mentally cringed at the sound, but also gave her a smile, though she only furrowed her eyebrows and glared at me.

… Uh, okay…

A tiny little bit imitated by her I lowered my head and stared at my plate full of pancakes. They simply looked delicious. Not even thinking twice I happily dug in and savored the taste on my tongue.

As we ate I chatted a little bit more with Bertie's pareants. They asked me some questions, I answered them, and we also talked about other things. I liked how the subject alien invasion and lizard attack didn't even come up once. Obviously Bertie I knew I was involved in it in some way, so I thought his parents would know about it too.

Though during the breakfast time I couldn't help but notice how Bertie and his parents were sharing some knowing looks between each other.

Something fishy was going on.

oOoOoOo

"_Son, we need to talk"_

"_Yes, dad."_

"_Look, I know it's been really hard for you since your real dad died and I know you've gone through a lot. But you've grown so strong, and I know you're independent now. Just remember, I love you, and if there's something troubling you, we can always talk about it."_

"_Dad, you're sounding like mom."_

"_Listen, Roberto. You're 18, an adult, but to me, you'll always be little Bertie. And I thought about it for a really long time… I think it's time for you to have the talk."_

"… _What?!"_

"_I know your past relationships all ended up with a broken heart and you swore to yourself that you'd never date someone ever again, so I'm really happy to see that you got yourself a girl and-"_

"_Oh dad, Jackie is not-"_

"_- She is younger than you, which surprises me since you always went for older girls-"_

"_She's not-"_

"_-You know son, personally I think she looks like a trouble maker. Now don't get me wrong, they are also fun to be with, but-"_

"_We're not dating, dad!"_

"… _You're not?"_

"_No! I brought her here because we had a… School project to do over the holidays."_

"_Oh, then it's fine. Really, she's nice, but like I said, most likely a trouble maker, or a trouble magnet. They are the most troublesome, lot of stress and hard to look after… You'll just get your heart broken. Keep it at a friendship basis."_

"_Uh huh, dad."_

oOoOoOo

"Achoo! I sneezed loudly.

Damn snow. Damn cold weather. Damn winter.

I rubbed my nose and secured the scarf around my neck more tightly. Why in the devil's name did I decide to wear Converse shoes on a cold winter day? I can't feel my toes anymore!

Bad idea. Really bad idea.

Where am I right now? Rose Hill, Tennessee. It's Christmas time. Almost. Either, it's the same thing to me.

What am I doing here? School project. Subject the Mandarin. Well, that was the original plan for coming here, but it seemed like my partner had other plans. Speaking of which, said asshole had something really important to discuss with his dad, thus leaving me alone.

I didn't know how long this talk of his would go, so I decided to take a walk outside, exploring and stuff like that.

There wasn't much to see in Rose Hill. In fact, it's only well known by some people due the bomb explosion that happened here a long time ago. Maybe I should just find this place and take a look at it first. Bertie must have seen it plenty of times, given that his family's living here.

A shiver went down my spin from the sudden gust of wind, and I picked up my walking pace. The sooner I find this place, the faster I'll be back again. Warm place, warm cocoa, and an annoying school project partner.

Perhaps I should stay outside a bit longer.

After hours of wandering and searching (to be honest it was just fifteen minutes) I decided that it was 1) too cold 2) I wasn't familiar with the surroundings and 3) had not motivation to continue.

I wasn't looking for going back though. Don't get me wrong, I think Bertie has got a really nice family and they seem to get along, but it's just that… Something about the whole happy family play makes me really sick inside.

Sitting down at the nearest bench, I sighed and leaned back. I tried to move my toes several times. I couldn't feel them anymore, but at least I was sure they were still there.

The street was covered in snow, making walking really hard. Different kind of footprints were imprinted there. The next time when I go out again, I'll take a bag of salt with me. You know, to make the snow melt and maybe to keep some evil demons away from me.

I chuckled to myself at that thought, thinking I should stop watching _Supernatural _and _Doctor Who_. Then I spotted a group of young boys walking not far away from me. From my point of view, it looked like that group of boys were following another boy. He was carrying lots of bags. They were laughing and shouting some things at him.

I would have just sat there and pretended not to notice anything if they haven't started throwing snowballs at the other boy. In that moment I had enough. I stood up, grabbed a handful of snow, stalked toward who I thought was the leader of the gang, and in the most unexpected moment I shoved the snow into his face.

Was I bullying a little kid? Yeah, I was, but I could care less right now. Somehow, I was in a foul mood since waking up, and they weren't making it any better.

The leader stuttered and cleaned the snow off from his face. His cheeks were red. Before he could even open his mouth and complain about what I just did, I simply hold up my hand right in front of his face. He quickly took it as a sign to shut up. (Just between you and me, it always works)

"Don't even think about open saying something." I started in my most annoyed tone "You don't have the right to do that."

That worked. Those boys immediately took their leave. Hah, I guess working on my evil look in front of the mirror totally paid off.

I sighed and then turned around. The victim was still standing there. He looked around ten years old, and had blue eyes. Probably blond hair under that beanie of his. Blue eyed people were always blond. He was staring at me rather weirdly, and I simply stared back.

"Do I know you from somewhere?" He then asked.

I furrowed my eyebrows and searched my mind through possible encounters with a boy like him. I couldn't find any though. So I shook my head.

He then shrugged his shoulders. "Thanks for helping me, miss."

"The name's Jackie Walker."

"… Are you staying over at the Spencer's?"

"How do you-"

"My little sister is best friend with Bethany Spencer. They even have matching Dora watched. Limited edition. I just heard her complaining to my sister about a guest that has got her eyes on her big brother…"

I didn't know why he was telling me the story with the matching watched, but I thought whoever was brave enough to be best friends with that little beast should deserve a medal for courage.

"Wait whoa, that little beast thinks after her brother?" I asked incredulously.

He confirmed it with a nod. Oh wow, if she can't tell annoyance between crush/love apart, then I see nothing good for her future relationships.

Silence fell upon us and I took the time to look at the bags he was carrying. It was a lot of things.

"Grocery shopping?" I commented, mocking him slightly.

"Supplies for my potato gun." He replied rather proudly.

He's what, ten, and already knows how to build a potato gun? Heck I don't even know how to do the oxyhydrogen test in chemistry.

My cell phone beeped, signaling I had a new message. I quickly took it out and skimmed over it quickly.

_Sorry, something else came up, we can't start working on the school project today. – Bertie_

Asshole.

Now I really don't want to go back now. But where else could I go? I looked back at the boy, and then suddenly had a brilliant idea.

"It's going to sound really rude and weird, but I just saved your lie more or less, sooooo I was wondering if I can stay at your house for a while?" I asked and waited or an answer.

He pondered at my request. "Are you going to help me carrying the groceries?"

"Yeah, no problem."

Then he handed me two bags and declared: "I know who you are now."

Pressing my lips into a thing line, I prepared myself for things like 'I saw you with those super heroes in New York' or 'giant lizard!'. Though instead, he said something I thought I'd never have to hear ever again. "You're the girl who gave the evil guy a hug!"

Wow, from all the things that happened, he had to remember this one?

"My name's Harley, by the way. You must have really liked that guy ."

In this moment I couldn't help but think how much he just reminded of a certain billionaire playboy.


	5. Chapter IV

**oh man, I really hope I'll be able to finish this story before Thor 2 gets released...**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing except my OCs Jackie Walked and Bertie Spencer**

* * *

Chapter IV

In Which There Is a Not-Entirely Happy Reunion Between Old Friends

"_It's snowing, right? Where are we, upstate?"_

"_We're five miles outside of Rose Hills, Tennessee."_

"_Why?! JARVIS! Not my idea! What are we doing here? This is thousand of miles away, I gotta get Pepper, I gotta…"_

"_I prepared a flight plan. This was the location."_

"_Who asked you? Open the suit."_

"_I… I think I may be malfunctioning, sir."_

"_Open eject… That's brisk! Maybe I'll just cozy back up for a bit."_

"_I actually think I need to sleep now, sir."_

"_JARVIS. JARVIS?" Don't leave me, buddy."_

oOo

"_Pepper, it's me. I've got a lot of apologies to make and not a lot of time. So first off, I'm so sorry I put you in harm's way. That was selfish and stupid and it won't happen again. Also, it's Christmas time, the rabbit's too big. Done. Sorry. And I'm sorry in advance because… I can't come home yet. I need to find this guy. You gotta stay safe. That's all I know. I just stole a poncho from a wooden Indian."_

oOo

"_Mom, where's Jackie?"_

"_Over at the Keener's I just received a call from Mrs. Keener, she'll drop her daughter her with Bethany to play. I made dinner reservation for dad, me and her tonight, so you're free to do whatever you want."_

"_What is she doing there?"_

"_I don't know, I just received the call. Apparently Harley is building something and she wants to watch. They seem to get along. Why don't you join them?"_

"_I will. But before I have to meet up with someone."_

"_Okay then. I believe you'll arrange dinner for yourself?"_

"_Yes mom. I'm off then."_

"_Have fun. Oh, and Bertie?"_

"_Yes?"_

"_You're eighteen and you make your own decisions now. But whatever you're doing, be careful not to get hurt."_

"… _I'll try. Love you!"_

oOoOoOo

"Was he really a God from the Norse myth?"

"Not since the accident."

"Was it the same guy who defeated that huge evil robot in New Mexico last year?"

"Not since the accident."

"Is it true that Captain America is over seventy years old but still looks like in his twenties?"

"Not since the accident."

"Can you pass me the plastic cup?"

"Sure." I did as he asked me to do and grabbed for a plastic cup, handing it over to Harley, while watching how he magically made a potato gun out of piece of scraps.

"Why did you hug him?"

I sighed and opened my mouth to reply 'Not since the accident', but then realized that it's not going to work for a 'why' question.

"Do you like him?" Harley continued to bomb me with questions.

"Not since the accident."

"Do you always answer questions with 'Not since the accident'?"

"Yeah, pretty much."

Probably satisfied that I finally said something else beside my usual 'Not since the accident', he stopped asking questions for a few seconds and went back to work on his potato gun.

When I asked him why he wanted to build one, he said it's to defend himself from bullies, which only made me raise an eyebrow.

"How's Iron Man?" Harley inquired, gluing some things together.

At that question I looked up. "How am I supposed to know that?"

"Aren't you friends with those super heroes?"

I scrunched my nose at that question and thought about it for a few seconds. Well, I wouldn't really say 'friends', because I don't get along with them that good. Also, they don't even get along with each other. They may be a good team, but that doesn't mean they're automatically best buddies for the rest of their life. "What makes you think that?"

He shrugged his shoulders as a reply, and then grabbed into the bag for something and then handed it to me. It was a newspaper. Wondering why he gave it to me I took it and stared at the front page. A big photo of a mansion on a cliff was shown.

Okay, let me correct that. It used to be a big mansion, now it's burned down into ashes. It thought the location looked really familiar, and upon reading the news headline, I felt like something in me died.

Genius, billionaire, playboy, philanthropist Tony Stark dead?

I quickly opened the newspaper and skipped to the article about Tony's death. Not bothering to read everything through carefully, I only caught the most important facts. Apparently it was the Mandarin who destroyed his home, no survivors and no bodies were found.

The latter part had me more worried. I've never been in his mansion before (only saw how it got blew up once in the movie _Iron Man 2_ which of course doesn't exist anymore), but as far as I know Pepper lives there with Tony. And if no bodies and/or survivors were found, that must mean a) they've escaped and are still alive or b) they got kidnapped.

I really hope it's not b).

"…Fuck…" I muttered under my breath.

Suddenly it felt like something was missing from my life. Before _Avengers_ I thought Tony was a cool character, especially since Robert Downey Jr. was portraying him, but after meeting him in real life I knew he was simply a huge pain in the ass. Regardless I got along with him pretty well. Sometimes maybe. He's like the uncle every parents tell their children to stay away from.

But a MARVEL universe without Tony Stark just doesn't work out. It's like Loki went back to Asgard and most people think you won't see him ever again, but that's not how it works because sooner or later you'll have to face that guy again, whether you like it or not.

I shook my head, balled the newspaper together and threw it into the next corner. Then I stood up and walked to the door.

"What are you doing?" Harley asked and followed me.

"Making an important call." I replied and opened the door, ready to walk out into the cold winter night.

To my surprise, Bertie stood there at the doorway, hand held up in the air, ready to ring the doorbell. He held up a bag of microwave-able popcorn and some DVDs. "I thought since you met Harley we could all watch a movie together?"

I twitched an eye, slammed the door shut and shouted out loudly: "I refuse to believe that that asshole is dead!"

"Jackie? I everything alright?" Bertie knocked on the door, sounding concerned. "Are you talking about Tony Stark? You are friends with him, right?"

Hearing that Harley gave me a slightly triumphal smile, that basically said 'I knew it', but he immediately dropped the smile after I shot a glare of death at him.

I honestly felt like punching something really hard, but restrained myself from doing it since this wasn't my house and it wouldn't look all too good if I destroy other people's properties.

For a long time no one said anything. I stood there, fist balled together, biting my lip. Harley had his head lowered, staring at the carpet.

From the outside came the slightly shaking voice form Bertie: "Guys, can you please let me in? I'm freezing!"

oOo

The fire cracked in the fire place, the flames danced around lazily. All lamps were turned off, the heater turned up. Buried under piles of blankets, we three sat in front of the TV, watching the live-action Mulan movie.

It's a horrible movie.

Not because the actors or stunts of plot was bad or anything like that. Actually, they were all brilliant, and the battle scenes were just splendid. It was the relationship and tensions between the main characters I had a problem with. It always irked me that Disney had to make everything dandy happily, like _The Little Mermaid_. In the original Andersen fairy tale there the story was about love and sacrifice. This live-action movie was similar. Except both are alive, but went separate ways because of politics and shit like that. Watching them biding farewell simply made me want to throw the TV out of the window.

Again, I had to restrain myself from doing that. And from crying out loud. Because their love story was just damn sad.

"Did you hear that?" Bertie suddenly pressed the stop button of the TV, holding up one finger and looked around.

Harley and I rubbed our eyes and tried to listen up, though we couldn't hear anything.

I grabbed a handful popcorn, threw one piece in the air and tried to catch it with my mouth, but failed epically. "Are you sure you're not making things up?"

Bertie got up and walked toward the door, turning on a flashlight. Why he was carrying one with him was beyond me, but fact was Harley got up and grabbed his potato gun and followed him outside.

I came to the conclusion a long time ago that they must know each other well.

Outside it had stopped snowing. It was around nine o'clock now and damn cold, but still I preferred winter over summer heat. Hot chocolate, snuggle blankets and chick flicks anyone?

While the guys were smart enough to put on some jackets and scarves, stupid me stood there in a hoodie. I hugged myself tightly and jumped up and down few times.

"There's someone in the farmhouse!" Harley shouted, pointing at the abandoned looking farmhouse, and walked into it.

Bertie and I looked at each other before following him. Personally I wouldn't go in and check, because in most horror movies that's when you get totally screwed up. But I'll guess I was lucky to have to fearless bastards as a companion with me.

We waded through the snow, trying to make as little noises as possible. From the door of the farmhouse was a trail that went into the fields. It weren't footsteps, it looked more like something was sliding in the snow. Something big and heavy

I certainly hope it's not a dead body.

Not even thinking about it twice, Harley disappeared behind the door. I have to say, he got guts. Well, better follow him and make sure nothing bad happens. Unlike him, I didn't bother to hush silently into the farmhouse, I simply ripped the door open and swaggered inside like I owned that place.

Inside I found a surprise.

A man I haven't seen for a long time and supposed to be dead sat on the worn out couch next to a matching worn out armor. At the same time Harley dropped his potato gun and took a step toward Tony.

"That's… That's… Is that Iron Man?" He stuttered out, looking truly amazed and surprised.

I stood there with my mouth open, not knowing what to do. Should I god, attack him and give him a hug? But that would be weird considering that I didn't willingly give out free hugs.

It seemed like Tony finally noticed my presence, because I saw how he moved his body slightly to the side to get a better look on what/who was standing behind Harley.

Bertie stepped in, holding a magazine and threw it into Tony's direction, saying: "Technically, you're dead."

Oh wow, that was rude.

"A valid point." Was all he said before throwing the magazine away and pointed a finger at me: "Shouldn't you be in New York working on your math problems?"

Resisting the urge to let out an unlady-like snort, I crossed my arms and asked: "What the hell happened to the Iron Man armor, it's covered in scratches! And what about Pepper, is she alright?!"

"Calm down, Jay-jay. How come you are worried about my suit and armor but not about your uncle Tony?" He retorted and then paused, thinking about something. "What are you doing here?"

A really good question I was hoping he wouldn't ask, because honest to God, I don't think he'll believe me if I say it was for a school project. I mean, does it even look like we did something for school? But then again, me and Bertie did just arrive yesterday…

Wow, so much about wanting to get a good grade.

Tony nodded at what I said and then pointed at the person standing behind me. I forgot Bertie was here too.

"He's uhm…" I explained "He's my project partner."

"Just your project partner?" Tony asked again, sounding a bit humored.

Bertie stepped out of the shadow, hand stretched out in front of Tony. "My name is Roberto Spencer. It's an honor to meet you, I have a heard a lot about you." He introduced himself and the two men shook hands.

"Likewise. I haven't heard anything about you though…" Iron Man commented, his eyes wandering to me accusingly.

There are reasons why I don't tell everybody everything that was happening in my life.

I crossed my arms and pointed at the suit behind Tony. Harley walked up to it and grabbed the finger. With an echoing snap, it broke off.

"Ops!"

Alarmed Tony turned around to see what was happening. He widened his eye in shock and took the broken finger "Not a good idea! What are you doing? You're gonna break his finger? He's in pain, he's been injured. Leave him alone."

"Sorry."

Bertie and I simply stood there, shared a knowing look that basically confirmed we were thinking the same thing: If this armor is supposed to be really hard to be destroyed, then how come a little boy could just snap off a finger?

"So, what brings you three together?" Tony inquired.

"I met him" I pointed at Harley "and invited myself into his house. He," I pointed at Bertie "apparently already knows Harley."

The billionaire nodded and then looked at Harley. "Where are your parents?"

"Well, my mom already left for the diner and dad went to 7-Eleve to get scratchers. I guess he won, 'cause that was six years ago."

Ouch. That must be pretty hard blow for him.

Tony though dismissed his story rather lightly, saying that things like this just happens. From what I knew he didn't have the best relation with his old man (me neither), but still that was no reason to be so insensitive!

"Here's what I need: A laptop, a digital watch, a cell phone, the pneumatic actuator from your bazooka over there, a map of town, a big spring, and a tuna fish sandwich."

I was ready to open my mouth and ask what he needed all those things, but Bertie stopped me from doing it by putting a hand over my mouth. He then put his arm around my shoulder and pointed at the door. "Alright, me and dear Jackie will get the stuff you requested." And with that he led me away.

From the corner of my eye I saw how Tony suspiciously raised an eyebrow, but didn't ask any further questions.

oOoOoOo

"_What's in it for me?"_

"_Salvation. What's his name?"_

"_Who?"_

"_The kid that bullies you at school, what's his name?"_

"_How'd you know that?"_

"_I just got the thing… This is a piñata for a cricket. I'm kidding, it's a very powerful weapon. Point it away from your face, press the button on top. It discouraged bullying. Non-lethal, just to cover one's ass… Deal? Deal? What'd you say?"_

"_Deal."_

"_Deal. What's your name?"_

"_Harley. And you're…"_

"_The mechanic. Tony. Say Harley… Do you know what's going on between those two?"_

"_Beats me. Jackie doesn't seem to like Bertie a lot."_

"_JayJay doesn't seem to like me a lot and yet she's still sticking around."_

"_Why do you ask?"_

"_Something tells me not to trust that Roberto boy, and I feel like I might have seen him somewhere before…"_

"_Nah, he's okay. Used to babysit me when my mom wasn't home, when he still went to school here. Dunno why he suddenly decided to move to New York."_

"_Hm, interesting… I should check up on him later… But you know what keeps going through my head? Where's my sandwich?"_

oOoOoOo

"Who in their right mind eat a tuna fish sandwich? That has got to be one of the grossest invention ever! And what does he need a town map? What the fuck is he doing here?!"

As I kept pacing back and forth in the kitchen with a knife in my hand, Bertie leaned against the kitchen counter, looking out of the window at the farm house, deep in thoughts. The reason he dragged me out of the farm house was so I would make the sandwich for Tony.

Truth to be told, I thought it was more about something he wanted to talk about concerning Iron Man's sudden appearance here, because let's be frank, that's a lot of coincidence happening in two days!

"I have somewhere to be." Bertie suddenly announced and stood up straight.

I stopped pacing around and looked at him with a raised eyebrow. "You're not serious, are you"?

"Yes, I am." Bertie replied, grabbed his jacket and walked away. The front door shut, signalizing that he indeed left the house, leaving me there with an open mouth and a half finished sandwich on the kitchen counter.

What the actual fuck?! Did that asshole really just left without a legit explanation?

I was legally upset now. Who does he think is he? Dragging me from New York to Rose Hill, showing up at Harley's door when I clearly wanted to stay away from him and now he just walks away like that?

Grabbing the really sucky made sandwich, I kicked the door open and waded through the snow back to the farm house. Halfway I turned my head back and saw the fresh trail of footprints in the snow. It stopped in front of an all too familiar car. Inside sat Bertie, talking to someone on the phone.

Shaking my head, I continued to walk to the farm house.

* * *

**also, I'm really tempted to give Deadpool a guest appearance in this xD **


	6. Chapter V

**Well, happy to say that it's like the first half of this story. I really hope i'll finish it in time before the release of THOR 2, DW 50th anniversary special and BBC Sherlock season 3 xD**

**also, piacine took her time and did a fanart of jackie :D Link can be found on my profile ! :D **

**Disclaimer: I own nothing except my OC Jackie Walker**

* * *

Chapter V

In Which Three Explosions Happened in One Night

Wearing many layers of warm clothes (that made us look like marshmallow), a map, some money, and a tourist guide we dared to walk around the cold ground of Rose Hill at night during the winter. Much to my surprise, it was rather lively during the night. Maybe that was because it's soon Christmas.

Once upon a time, thirty minutes ago, we heard the sound of car engine starting and came to the conclusion that Bertie abandoned us. We simply took it as a sign to get our lazy ass of the farm house and take a small sightseeing tour at the explosion place. It was the only interesting thing to see there.

"The sandwich was fair, the spring was a little rusty, the rest of the materials, I'll make do."

I rolled my eyes as Tony complained about my shitty made sandwich, though I'm simply blaming it on the tuna.

"By the way, when you said your sister had a watch, I was kinda hoping for something a little more than that."

To show us what he meant, he pulled up his sleeve, the pink Dora watch came to light.

I tried to contain my giggle and simply explained that it was a limited edition watch, he should be grateful he even got one. I'm pretty sure Harley's sister would be mad if she found out someone too her watch.

While Harley proceed to tell Tony about his six years old sister and bombed him with questions about the Avengers, I spotted the bomb site. Not interested in listening to their conversation I jogged toward the place.

Candles and flowers were placed on the ground, for remembering the people that died here, some even places photos of what I assumed to be the dead soldiers here. The sight of all the things here made me remember Coulson and Captain Stacey, and suddenly I just wanted to go home. Sure, major adventures always involved death of people, but witnessing the death of one person you thought you knew so well in front of you was just a completely different story.

Seeing as I bumped into Tony + recent terrorist attacks just smelled like trouble.

Slowly I walked up to the wall were five shadows of human shape could be seen. I slowly lifted up a hand and touched the cold wall. Beside me I heard of Harley told Tony the story about the explosion. Something about men in the military, going insane and then blowing himself up. Tony then pointed out that there were only five shadows, to which Harley explained that one of them landed in hell.

So this is what me and Bertie wanted to do for the school project? Wow, I did think it was an awesome idea, but now it's just plain dangerous.

I rubbed my forehead with my hand, thinking about my life before the whole ending-up-in-the-MARVEL-universe thing. I don't recall any comic character called the Mandarin. Probably because I never bothered to read the Iron Man comics. I was more an Avengers comic fan.

Back to topic. What I always thought was that I would know everything (being from a world where this was all just fiction). Turns out that wasn't the case at all. I may have watched some movies, but I wasn't such a big comic nerd. So I guess that was a 'mistake', because movies are usually based on comics and well, basically the information source about all the things happening around me.

Or maybe it was a good thing I didn't know anything anymore. For once, I think SHIELD might stop pestering me. Somehow Fury giving me a lot of freedom made me really suspicious.

My train of thoughts were interrupted by sudden heavy breathing sound that came off from the person standing next to me. Turning around I saw that Tony was having some sort of panic attack.

Okay, truth to be told, I have no idea how a panic attack looked like because I've never had one/witnessed one before.

"Tony, are you okay?!" I shouted and kneeled down to his eye lever.

Stark was clutching his chest, breathing heavily. I looked around for someone that could help us, and just when I was about to stand up and call the ambulance, Tony rose up.

"Ah man, you did it, didn't you?! You happy now?" He complained to Harley, who held up both hands in defense.

"What did I say?"

Good question, I'd like to know that too.

Instead of replying the billionaire ran away. Harley quickly grabbed my sleeve and we run after him. Tony was running quite fast, while we two kids were struggling with coming through the snow. It only slowed us down.

What was wrong with him? Why was he suddenly having a panic attack? Pepper never told me anything about it, and he didn't act weirdly the few times I visited him (and confronted him about my Peter problems). Whatever it was, it had something to do with what Harley said.

It took us a while to catch up with Tony. He then stopped, slumped down, grabbed a handful snow and throw it into his face, in the way I did earlier with the bully today. That finally calmed him down. Still sitting in the snow, we approached him.

"What the hell was that? Since when do you have panic attacks?" I immediately confronted him.

Instead of answering Stark childishly threw a bunch of snow at me. As a payback I kicked snow at him.

"Your fault, you spazzed me out." He pointed at Harley, who looked down somewhat ashamed. "Okay, back to business. Where were we? The guy who died… Relatives? Mom?" Mrs. Davis, where is she?"

"Where she always is."

I'm guessing that this had something to do with what those two talked about at the explosion site when I tuned them out, but obviously Harley meant that this Mrs. Davis been drinking for a long time.

It also made me thing that Rose Hill was actually one of those towns where everybody knew everybody. Kinda spooky.

Tony stood up again and dusted off the snow, mumbling: "See, now you're being helpful." Hearing that Harley smiled again. "And now go home." He dropped that smile.

Seeing that, Iron Man sighted. "Look kid, I appreciate your help do far-"

I coughed loudly, signaling he forgot who made his damn sandwich.

"- And Jackie, thanks for the sandwich. You'll make a wonderful housewife."

Not what I expected but it could do for now.

"You two should go home now. I don't know what made you want to do a school project about an explosion site, but I'm sure you'll get new ideas." He chastised me while I rolled my eyes annoyed.

"Hey, it's not my fault that my project partner wasn't smart enough to stop me from vomiting stupid ideas."

"Your ideas, you're to blame."

Wow, that actually stung. Hard.

I opened my mouth to throw an insult at him, but then shut it again. He was right, somehow. And I hate it when other people were right.

I sighed in defeat and said: "Take care." Which Tony took as a sign that me and Harley will go home.

"Bye." He said.

"See ya." Both me and Harley replied at the same time and watched him walking off.

A long silence followed where only the wind blowing could be heard.

"… Are you going to follow him?" Came the silent and slightly chattering voice of Harley.

"Duh."

oOoOoOo

"_Sir, we have a situation here."_

"_Yes?"_

"_Erik Salvin who has been sighted at the Chinese Theater explosion has just been reported to be in Rose Hill, Tennessee, along with Ellen Brandt."_

"_Rose Hill? Isn't that where Jacqueline Walker and Roberto Spencer are right now?"_

"_Yes sir. And apparently Tony Stark has also been sighted there."_

"_Which means he's alive."_

"_Should we send our agents to retrieve them?"_

"… _No, that won't be necessary. Just keep an eye on them. If something happens, report immediately."_

"_Understood, sir!"_

oOoOoOo

Maybe five minutes waiting were too long? I mean, normally if you wait five minutes and the go after someone they shouldn't make it too far, right? Or was I just too slow and not careful enough with my search?

How does one even lose a noisy billionaire playboy philanthropist?

I knew I should have followed him right after he disappeared behind that corner.

And before people start to wonder about Harley, I ditched him few seconds ago. Or he ditched me. Either way, we went separate ways, but I don't think he was going home anyway. I just hope nothing bad will happen to him.

Stopping under a dim lit street lamp, I looked around. People were walking around me, but luckily I was able to spot Tony from far away. The pink Dora watch was a dead giveaway. He hushed into a bar, were Christmas songs were coming off loudly, and the smell of alcohol.

I scrunched my nose at the thought of having to go inside in the bar. Never really liked bars. Not that I have been in many though. But those few times already taught me to stay away from those kind of places.

Time out.

Do I really want to go after Tony and get caught up in whatever mess he was in? Hasn't past experience taught any better?

No apparently not. Or else I would have done what Stark ordered me to do and went home, pretending nothing of this has ever happened.

I guess there was just something alluring about the thought of getting into dangers again. Or maybe it wasn't me who was making all the decisions in my life, maybe God was simply playing Sims again.

Right, gotta go after Tony now.

Just when I was about to enter the bar, I crashed into a red haired woman. She managed to maintain her balance while I unelegantly tumbled down onto the ground. Something dropped down beside me.

"I'm sorry!" I apologized as I got up and picked up her dropped cell phone, handing it back to her. Out of sheer habit, I stole q quick glance at it. The cell phone looked like custom made technology, and it had the letters AIM graved on it. Whatever that was supposed to mean.

The woman took it with a smile. "Thank you."

Relieved she wasn't causing a scene like I'd expect people normally would do, I smiled uneasily at her. She had short red hair and some burn marks on the one side of her face. It didn't make her look ugly though, in fact it gave her an air of a heroic but tragic background story.

Noticing that I was staring at her burn marks the red haired woman smiled somewhat strangely and explained vaguely: "An accident. But most of the scars have healed."

I gave off a naïve 'Ooooh', nodded my head and then pointed at the bar. "I need to go look for my uncle now. Bye!"

And with that she walked away and I continued my quest to look for the fallen Man of Iron.

One thing I didn't like about bars were those dim lit rooms. I didn't like it when there were lots of people in a room, but barely any light source. It made me uncomfortable. So far the first few minutes I just stood there awkwardly at the doorway, not knowing what to do, or where to start to look for Tony.

What was he doing here anyway?

Just when I was about to take a step further into the room, the all-too familiar whooshing of the TARDIS echoed through the room, signaling someone was calling me on my cell phone. Instantly everyone stopped with their chattering and turned their head toward the source of that unpleasant noise AKA me.

Embarrassed and a bit angry at the bad timing I quickly stepped out of the bar, just as the same red haired woman from before walked in.

"What?!" I whispered harshly into the phone as I stalked off to a quite place, away from the noises. That phone totally destroyed my James Bond mood!

"Merry Christmas to you too." Came the rather unamused voice of a star-strips-spandex-man.

Fuck.

In panic I looked around for a hiding place, thinking if I his myself Steve Rogers wouldn't be able to hear me at all. But that was probably just as dumb as closing your eyes, thinking no one could see you this way.

Well, I'd just love to hang up on him, but this was Captain America we were talking about.

One simply does not hang up on Captain America.

Not even Tony.

So I took up all my courage and decided to answer him: "Steve! How are you?"

"What did Peter mean with 'You're on a road trip with Bertie?"

I bit my lower lip. "Well, it's just like he said. I'm in Tennessee. With Bertie." I explained, or rather avoided to tell him any more details. I don't think he'll appreciate it if I tell him that I was here for a school project.

"Do you even know how dangerous this is?"

Yeah, I actually do, I simply chose to ignore it though. Mentally I prepared myself for a lecture and scolding, something that happened regularly when I did something that according to Steve was stupid.

For the next minutes I simply leaned against a wooden fence, pretending to be listening what Steve was telling me, while just nodding me head along to it and giving off my 'Yeah, I got it' from time to time.

Until I saw Tony running out of the bar in panic. Followed by a familiar looking ginger head. Maybe it were the lights, but from my point of view it looked like her hands were glowing.

"Hey hot wings, you wanna party?" Tony provoked her "You and me, let's go." And he ran away with her on his tail.

I followed them with my eyes, and then interrupted Steve: "Steve, I gotta go now, Tony's in trouble." Before he could ask me what happened, I stopped the calls and put my cell phone back into my pocket.

So Tony was chased by a red haired chick. It was definitely not a playful chase, more like a 'Sie sind das Essen und wir sind die Jäger' chase, which in my opinion was really bad.

The adrenalin rush kicked in. Or at least I think it was the adrenalin rush, because when I prepared myself to run after them, my head suddenly got really dizzy and I had to grab onto something so I wouldn't fall flat down onto my face.

Annoyed that I slowed me down and made me lost my motivation to go after the chase, I saw a silver car driving by, and then a person stepped out of it. He was holding something in his hand, I couldn't make out what it was, but it wasn't anything good. And it didn't look like he was here to help Tony. In fact, I'm pretty sure he worked together with that red haired woman.

It wasn't until that guy raised his arm and pointed the thing at Tony I realized that it was a gun. My eyes widened in shock and fear and I opened my mouth to give him a warning shout, but someone threw himself at the man, making him miss the shot.

That someone just happened to be Harley.

Meanwhile Tony smashed himself into a shop while the lady calmly followed him.

Harley and the man were struggling on the ground, but obviously Harley was being overpowered by him, I picked up an ice covered stone and threw it with all my might at the asshole. It hit him at the side of his head, making him bleed. He stopped fighting and touched his bleeding head. Inside I was doing a victory dance, but then something weird happened.

The wound started to glow in a red-orange light, and then it closed itself.

At the same time the man slowly and creepily turned his head toward my direction with a smirk, that basically told me I was in deep shit.

It couldn't be the lizard serum from Curtis Connors, could be? I mean, that man looked pretty human to me, not like a reptile.

He stood up and like a predator walked toward my direction, why I slowly backed away.

"You can't hurt me, you know?" He told me as he took another step forward. "You see, I have this gift that can heal every injury I receive in no time."

Yeah, I just saw that, but guess what, I have Tesseract energy in my blood. Which actually pretty much sucks because I never know when it will act up and when not.

He continued: "It means I am above you."

I kept backing away from him, until my back hit something that felt like wood. In moments liked this I wonder why I never just make a turn and ran away, instead of just stupidly backing away.

"Weak people should be destroyed." With a sadistic smile and madness in his eyes he lifted up his hand, which started to glow in the same sickening red-orange color as earlier.

I didn't know what kind of secret superpower he head – or whether he was a mutant or now -, but I know that his glowing hand could possibly burn my skin. There was no way out for me so I closed my eyes and prepared myself to get scarred for the rest of my life. But the next thing that happened took me completely by surprise.

Remember how in Stuttgart Loki tried to blast me to death but there was that invisible shield protecting me, or when there was that lizard serum in the air but I wasn't infected at all? This was all thanks to the Tesseract energy inside me. It was nice to see that despite having something alien in my blood it was still some use to me.

Just like right now.

My face was still the same as before and I didn't feel any pain. What I did feel was only the tiny sensation of thousand of needled poking my skin when one of your body parts fall asleep. Someone was screaming in agony.

Opening my eyes, I saw that the man was holding his hand, hissing in pain. His hand was glowing in the familiar Tesseract blue color, before it turned back to red-orange, obviously healing itself.

He was staring at his now fully healed hand with a big question mark on his face, and then he looked at me with hatred.

"Who- What are you?!" He demanded to know. I sucked in a deep breath, refusing to answer his question.

Before anyone of us could do the next move, something behind us exploded, throwing us completely off guard and off the ground. It took me a few seconds to understand that Tony most likely did something in the shop that went BOOM! Wouldn't surprise me at all, I bet he could make explosives out of ketchup and mustang

I landed rather ungracefully on the ground, face planted right in the snow. When I lifted up my head, I couldn't move my lips and nose. It didn't help that when I tried to feel them with my hands there wasn't any pain. For a while I was worried my lips and nose somehow fell off.

Convincing myself that this was just my mind messing with me, I looked around and saw that the shop was a pile of trash in fire now. There was no trace of the red haired woman, which means she got killed in the process.

Somehow that thought made my stomach feel uneasy. Sure I know Tony used to produce weapons that were used in wars and killed lot of people, but not witnessing something like this made me think bad about him. I know that woman was out to kill him, but stil…

"Help me! Help me!" Someone screamed

I looked around and found the source of the sound, it was someone sitting in front of the pile with a boy in his lap.

Harley and that asshole. Upon taking a closer inspection I realized someone was stuck under the pile, not able to move.

"Mr. Stark, I am so sorry!" Harley yelled.

At this point I didn't know what to do. I could try to help him but I think that would only get us into more trouble.

Tony saw me standing behind the man and Harley (they probably forgot I was there) and gestured me not to make a sound and back away. For once I did as he told me and silently took few steps back. Stark then turned his eyes back to Harley and said: "It's not your fault kid. Remember what I told you about bullies?"

I raised an eyebrow and wondered when that conversation happened, but then another explosion went off, which blasted the man onto the ground. It didn't do all too much damaged, but ti was enough time for Harley to free himself. Immediately I raced toward him, grabbed his arm and ran off.

Another blast echoed behind us, but we kids still kept running until we were sure we were safe.

People would say we were abandoning Tony, but those who really knew him (and followed his movie partly) know that he'll always find a way out of sticky situations.


End file.
